Rodgers faux Benghazi report and his wife’s Defense interests

November 25, 2014 — bunkerville

If there is any question about the faux Benghazi report that just came out from the Intelligence Committee under the less than esteemed Chairman Rodgers, let me answer by looking at the cast of lying weasels that played a part in this. Let’s take a look first at Rodgers wife and just who she is. First as a CEO of a Defense Contractor and then hired by a lobbying firm.

And then the infamous CIA Deputy Director Morel, who also is a national security analyst for CBS News and has a book deal, joined the Beacon firm after retiring from the CIA last year. More about Beacon later. Morell who lied and should have been tried for lying to Congress. Moved on to make big bucks as a payoff for his lies no doubt. First of a two-part post. Tomorrow the second. Here is good ole boy Lindsay Graham for a start:

Published on Nov 24, 2014

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning that last week’s the House Intelligence Committee’s Benghazi report, which hollowed out a number of Republican arguments on the incident, was “full of crap.”

Just who Chairman Rodgers wife and her role in D.C?

Four years ago, she married the powerful chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers.

Up until 2012, she was also the CEO of the American branch of Aegis, a defense and security contracting firm, where. according to her new employer, the law firm, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, Kristi Rogers successfully developed and led a two-year pursuit and capture strategy to win a five-year, $10 billion contract under the Department of State’s Worldwide Protective Services program.”

And, yes, it’s an area her husband’s committee has Congressional oversight, making sure diplomats and their staffs are properly protected.

You would think Congressman Mike Rogers would at least disclose that family connection, or that in appearing before Congress, Kristi Rogers would disclose her marital ties.

But on his Web site, Congressman Rogers only states he’s in fact married, no name, and Kristi Rogers in an appearance before a presidential commission back in 2010 didn’t mention the name of the man she just married, even though she missed her first appearance due to her honeymoon.
KRISTI CLEMENS ROGERS, WIFE OF REPRESENTATIVE MIKE ROGERS: It was an unfortunate perfect storm. I had just come off my honeymoon. That was not the perfect storm —

GRIFFIN: The congressman declined our interview request, and his press secretary set us straight in this email, telling us this is all old news.

“Kristi Rogers is not a lobbyist,” she writes, and “is not engaging in those activities.”

“She has also never met with any member of Congressman Rogers’ staff or staff members of the intelligence committee in any professional capacity on any issue.”

Kristi Rogers is now the managing director of Federal Government Affairs and Public Policy from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

She is not a registered lobbyist. She just happens to work for a firm that does extensive lobbying, and on its Web site, touts its “strong relationships in Congress” with a “solid record of success in securing legislation and federal funding on behalf of clients.” NYHART: And it’s this kind of conflict of interest that leads to this deep distrust.

GRIFFIN: What we are told constantly by the members is, I never talk to my spouse about this issue.

I never talk to her on this business. There’s a firewall between me and my sons who are lobbyists.

Do you buy that?

NYHART: Well, whether you buy it or not, here’s the question of the appearance. I’m sure there’s some reality.

I can’t quite believe that members of Congress don’t care about the fortunes of their family members.

GRIFFIN: And the fortunes go both ways. Mike Rogers’ wife, Kristi becomes CEO of defense contractor, then is hired by a lobbying firm.

Rogers becomes chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and according to the Federal Election Commission, political donations from the defense industry quadruple, all legal, all within the rules, all routine in the family business of Washington.

Here is a refresher on Morell

Morell, who also is a national security analyst for CBS News and has a book deal, joined the Beacon firm after retiring from the CIA last year. In doing so, he joined an organization already stacked with ex-government officials. Among them is Philippe Reines, whom the New York Times magazine recently described as Clinton’s “principal gatekeeper.” According to Beacon’s website, Reines traveled to more than 110 countries with the then-Secretary of State as part of her senior team.

Meet Beacon Global Strategies.

The online bios for its founders and managing directors suggest no group knows more about the Benghazi terrorist attack and the Obama administration’s response. Yet the consulting firm has deep ties to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others involved in the controversy – ties so intertwined with the administration and Capitol Hill that they raise questions about an upcoming hearing where former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell is slated to testify.

Another employee, Jeremy Bash, was a former chief of staff to Leon Panetta at both the CIA and Defense Department. Andrew Shapiro was a Clinton policy adviser at the State Department whose portfolio included ridding Libya of shoulder-launched missiles called MANPADs.

And it includes Republican J. Michael Allen, who was a former majority staff director for the House Intelligence Committee, headed by Republican Rep. Mike Rogers. The following link is a great read and worth the time.

Lawmakers want to hear from the chief of station because, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report, he wrote to Morell and other CIA leadership on Sept. 15, 2012, emphasizing in an email that the attacks were “not/not an escalation of protests.” A day later, then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice went on national television and said the opposite.

As first reported by Fox News, Morell is facing accusations he downplayed, or even dismissed, the reporting of U.S. personnel on the ground in Libya, including the chief of station.

Morell, meanwhile, is also appearing for public testimony after facing accusations by Republicans of misleading lawmakers over his role in the talking points. He initially claimed the talking points, before Rice’s interview appearances, were provided to White House officials for awareness and not for their input. Emails later released show administration involvement began at the earliest stages, and Morell personally cut 50 percent of the text.